Will Tigers Pony up for Skubal

[Sports_Freak]

3 hours ago, oblong said:

To your first two sentences:  Skubal’s career can be over after his next pitch. 
 

Or he could be more like JV and pitch into his 40's. We already know just how good he can be, he's not a prospect, he's an established star. We need him and a few more like him.

[Sports_Freak]

1 hour ago, oblong said:

Peoole forget that you don’t build your playoff team in December or March. It’s built in July and August.  

The Tigers last championship final needed part was acquired at the end of spring training. But yeah, needed pieces are added at the trade deadline, sometimes.

[chasfh]

15 hours ago, RedRamage said:

I will be disappointed if Skubal suits up in a Tigers uniform on March 26 AND the Tigers have done very little to add to the roster.
 

To the degree we don't already have a team we can put together with players already in the organization who can compete for a ring, I agree with this.

[Tiger337]

17 minutes ago, chasfh said:

To the degree we don't already have a team we can put together with players already in the organization who can compete for a ring, I agree with this.

They can make the playoffs and thus compete for a ring.  I'd just like a little push to make it more likely. 

[AlaskanTigersFan]

Tigers offense is middle of the road, and our pitching isn't much better. Here's hoping to a good year if he's not traded. I'm very happy to have been wrong the last two years in thinking our boys overperformed. So here's hoping they can do it again. 

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, AlaskanTigersFan said:

Tigers offense is middle of the road, and our pitching isn't much better. Here's hoping to a good year if he's not traded. I'm very happy to have been wrong the last two years in thinking our boys overperformed. So here's hoping they can do it again. 

The offense with the Harris pickups is more promising than with the Avila pickups, particularly where strikeout and walk rates are concerned, something I showed in a comparison after the season. I do think other things being equal, the Tigers will get better on offense just by increasing the Harris/Avila player mix.

[Tiger337]

11 minutes ago, chasfh said:

The offense with the Harris pickups is more promising than with the Avila pickups, particularly where strikeout and walk rates are concerned, something I showed in a comparison after the season. I do think other things being equal, the Tigers will get better on offense just by increasing the Harris/Avila player mix.

[Sports_Freak]

2 hours ago, chasfh said:

The offense with the Harris pickups is more promising than with the Avila pickups, particularly where strikeout and walk rates are concerned, something I showed in a comparison after the season. I do think other things being equal, the Tigers will get better on offense just by increasing the Harris/Avila player mix.

Vierling, McKinstry and Torres? Who else ya got? 2 utility players and a player who fell into our lap? 2nd base wasn't really a position of need but we sure could use a 3rd baseman...

[Shinzaki]

Seems like 3rd base has been an issue in Detroit more often than not since 1971.  Rodriguez held things down really well for a bit and then you had a lot of guys coming and going...Brookens...Coles...Brown and Fryman in the 80's into the early 90's..then  Palmer..Randa..and a list of ne'er do wells until Inge-Miggy-Castellanos.  

[RatkoVarda]

53 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

Seems like 3rd base has been an issue in Detroit more often than not since 1971.  Rodriguez held things down really well for a bit and then you had a lot of guys coming and going...Brookens...Coles...Brown and Fryman in the 80's into the early 90's..then  Palmer..Randa..and a list of ne'er do wells until Inge-Miggy-Castellanos.  

if Howard Johnson did not annoy Sparky so much, he would have been a big piece for most of the 1980s

[chasfh]

2 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

Vierling, McKinstry and Torres? Who else ya got? 2 utility players and a player who fell into our lap? 2nd base wasn't really a position of need but we sure could use a 3rd baseman...

Well, also Jahmai Jones.

But this is meant as, we can win with only the Harris guys we got, obviously not true. I mean it more as proof of concept for the type of hitter the Harris team is going after. It will include McGonigle and Max Clark and Rainer and Liranzo, and maybe Max Anderson and Hao Yu-Lee and, farther down the road, Cris Rodriguez. These are guys that people on this very board are excited about to at least some degree. They won't all help us in 2026, but maybe some will, along with perhaps an acquisition or two either this winter or at the deadline.

[Motor City Sonics]

So many rumors about what the Tigers will get for Skubal.   And some very attractive returns.   But a sportswriter (and I can't remember which one) once said - whomever got the best player in the trade -- wins the trade.    It's very rare when that doesn't happen.   Can't think of too many.   The Hershel Walker deal.........he was the best player (at the time of the trade) but the Cowboys won it easily.   I would say the Pistons trading Grant Hill might be an example, as he was the best player at the time, but in hindsight Ben Wallace was a better player.     So the Tigers could get a current starting pitcher and the best 4 prospects on the Dodgers and the Dodgers probably won the trade.    

Starting to wonder about the Mets now.  They lost two stars and Cohen is about to go crazy.  

[Motor City Sonics]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

Well, also Jahmai Jones.

But this is meant as, we can win with only the Harris guys we got, obviously not true. I mean it more as proof of concept for the type of hitter the Harris team is going after. It will include McGonigle and Max Clark and Rainer and Liranzo, and maybe Max Anderson and Hao Yu-Lee and, farther down the road, Cris Rodriguez. These are guys that people on this very board are excited about to at least some degree. They won't all help us in 2026, but maybe some will, along with perhaps an acquisition or two either this winter or at the deadline.

But lets be honest about top level prospects.  If 3 out of 10 of them are just average major league players - you're doing better than most teams.    It's such a big leap. 

 

Rookie ball =  One story Bungalow

A ball - two story townhouse

High ball - two story townhouse with a roof garden

Double A Ball - 5 story building

Triple A Ball - 5 story building with higher ceilings on each floor

Major League Ball - 40 story skyscraper. 

 

It would be wonderful if 2/3rds of our prospects panned out.    But it's more likely that 2/3rds don't because that final leap is so extreme.  

[casimir]

12 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

So the Tigers could get a current starting pitcher and the best 4 prospects on the Dodgers and the Dodgers probably won the trade.  

Could they really get that much?  I realize the Dodgers have a good farm system, but I’m more interested in where the prospects stack up amongst the league rather than just solely within an organization.  If the prospects are a top 25, a couple top 50s and another top 100, and the current starting pitcher is legit, then the Tigers pull a Boras and take that to market.  Who knows, maybe the Mets or Phillies up the ante on the Dodgers and the Dodgers add on top?  Seems nutty, I probably wouldn’t do it from the other side, but who knows if this escalates.

[casimir]

2 hours ago, chasfh said:

Well, also Jahmai Jones.

Jones was a great story last season.  I just have my doubts that there’s a repeat season from him.

[buddha]

were still talking about al avila?

 

[casimir]

9 minutes ago, buddha said:

were still talking about al avila?

 

Maybin signed.

[Motor City Sonics]

14 minutes ago, casimir said:

Could they really get that much?  I realize the Dodgers have a good farm system, but I’m more interested in where the prospects stack up amongst the league rather than just solely within an organization.  If the prospects are a top 25, a couple top 50s and another top 100, and the current starting pitcher is legit, then the Tigers pull a Boras and take that to market.  Who knows, maybe the Mets or Phillies up the ante on the Dodgers and the Dodgers add on top?  Seems nutty, I probably wouldn’t do it from the other side, but who knows if this escalates.

I was just using that as an extreme example.      I think some people see high prospects and they think they are automatic plus players   Travis Chapman was going to be an All-Star, remember?      The biggest ones I remember were Paul Householder and Clint Hurdle.  Both of those guys were can't-miss.     

I will say this.   I trust the current regime's development staff more than any other in my life.   The do seem to develop guys pretty well.  

And the Tigers organization has done a 180.    They were famous for always having power arms.   You'd look at their Top 10 prospects and seven or eight would be pitchers, but the latest BA Top 10 list has ZERO pitchers.    Wow. 

[Sports_Freak]

2 hours ago, chasfh said:

Well, also Jahmai Jones.

But this is meant as, we can win with only the Harris guys we got, obviously not true. I mean it more as proof of concept for the type of hitter the Harris team is going after. It will include McGonigle and Max Clark and Rainer and Liranzo, and maybe Max Anderson and Hao Yu-Lee and, farther down the road, Cris Rodriguez. These are guys that people on this very board are excited about to at least some degree. They won't all help us in 2026, but maybe some will, along with perhaps an acquisition or two either this winter or at the deadline.

I'll make this kinda simple and let it be the end of it. If it weren't for Al Avila, the Tigers wouldn't have made the playoffs the last 2 seasons. And if so, the heat on Harris would be suffocating. His seat would be SO hot, his pants would catch fire. Does that mean I like the job Avila did? No way, I wanted him fired when he extended Brad Ausmus. But it's Al's players and manager who got us into the playoffs, in spite of Harris not bringing in any help.

[Sports_Freak]

7 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

I was just using that as an extreme example.      I think some people see high prospects and they think they are automatic plus players   Travis Chapman was going to be an All-Star, remember?      The biggest ones I remember were Paul Householder and Clint Hurdle.  Both of those guys were can't-miss.     

I will say this.   I trust the current regime's development staff more than any other in my life.   The do seem to develop guys pretty well.  

And the Tigers organization has done a 180.    They were famous for always having power arms.   You'd look at their Top 10 prospects and seven or eight would be pitchers, but the latest BA Top 10 list has ZERO pitchers.    Wow. 

Either get back a huge haul or keep Skubal. Trying to get teams to bid each other up doesn't seem to work. It really seems like it would though...

[Tenacious D]

I suspect any real trade “haul” will ultimately underwhelm compared to what is being speculated by podcasters and ex-general managers.

[chasfh]

14 hours ago, buddha said:

were still talking about al avila?

 

As long as his thumbprint is on the organization, yeah.

[chasfh]

14 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

I'll make this kinda simple and let it be the end of it. If it weren't for Al Avila, the Tigers wouldn't have made the playoffs the last 2 seasons. 

If this is true, then it is also true that if it weren't for Randy Smith, the Tigers would not have won the 2006 American League pennant.

[Tiger337]

34 minutes ago, chasfh said:

If this is true, then it is also true that if it weren't for Randy Smith, the Tigers would not have won the 2006 American League pennant.

Dombrowski had a lot more to do with winning in 2006 than Harris did in 2025.  At the same time, I think Harris has a very good chance to be a better GM long-term than Dombrowski.